Representatives from Uintah Basin Central Dispatch will meet with officials from US WEST Communications this week to discuss the results of three weeks of testing on the enhanced 911 system.
According to Laconna Davis, central dispatch communications manager, if the error rate is low enough, the system could be on line as early as mid-November. On the other hand, if error rates still pose a problem, a second testing period may have to be conducted.With enhanced 911 system, a computer screen will immediately display for dispatchers the phone number and address of the caller. It will also identify all emergency-response departments in the caller's vicinity. With the current 911 system, that information is not available.
Davis says she feels the "testing went well." She said over 700 callers with the 722 prefix in the Roosevelt area participated on their test day. The lowest percentage of call-ins came when the 781 and 738 prefixes were tested with just 500 people participating.
She said during the three-week testing phase, during which US WEST customers with certain prefixes were asked to call in on a specific day, several problems in the system were pinpointed. Several of the errors, Davis said, can be easily fixed on the computer. "There are a lot of corrections that need to be done, but a lot of them will take just one stroke and the computer can correct 20 different places."
Another error discovered through testing was that one large area hadn't been "downloaded" or entered into the system, although the information was available. That problem was able to be corrected the day after testing detected the absence of information.
Those who called in during the testing process were asked to verify their phone number, address and responsible party at the address. When an error was found, a card was filled out to make sure the mistake would be corrected.
Before the enhanced 911 system goes on line those needing emergency assistance should continue to dial 911 for fast response by ambulance or local police or fire departments.
Plans to install the enhanced 911 system for US WEST customers in Duchesne and Uintah counties began two years ago.